Baroque Music

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Music

Baroque

Content

Key words

Notation

Opera

Composers

Perfect Intervals

Music Forms

Baroque Instruments

Elements of Baroque

History

Literature

Art

History

In literary studies and rhetoric, a style of writing that is extravagant, heavily ornamented, and/or bizarre. A term more commonly used to characterize the visual arts and music, baroque (sometimes capitalized) can also refer to a highly ornate style of prose or poetry.

Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival,[1][2] but the existence of important Baroque art and architecture in non-absolutist and Protestant states throughout Western Europe underscores its widespread popularity.[

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HistoricalContext

1600-1750

Baroque Music

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During the Baroque period Europe is expanding both in gaining colonies overseas, as well as delving into scientific exploration. Kingdoms are becoming Empires, the world is physically becoming smaller, while the use of resources is exponential. Click below to explore significant events involving Colonization, Absolutionism, The Counter Reformation, and the Scientific Exploration.

Activity

During the Baroque time there were themes and elements that were essential to all music. Click and explore to learn more. When you are finished complete the activity below!

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Notation

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Terraced Dynamics

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doctrine of the affections

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program music

MusicElements

String Instruments

Viola de Gamba

Recorder

Harpsichord

Practice

Music Instruments

Fugue

Toccatta

Activity

With music taking so many new forms and being played in so many new places, Baroque musicians also began to make a distinction between different styles. Click and explore to learn more. When you are finished complete the activity below!

Cantata

Oratorio

Vocal Music

Concerto Form

Allemande

Sarabande

Gigue

Courente

Dance Suites

Solo Concerto

Concerto Grosso

Concerto

Sonata

Chamber Music

MusicForms

Fourth

Fifth

Octave

Intervals are the space between two pitches/ notes Pythagoras first discovered intervals based on the ratio of a vibrating string. Pictured are the three perfect intervals: the Perfect Octave (P8), the Perfect Fifth (P5) and the Perfect Fourth (P4).

Perfect Intervals

Think about it

The music of certain composers, such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, has been performed for centuries and will probably remain popular for centuries to come. What is it about their music that has made it remain popular for so long? Can you think of any modern composers whose music may endure as long as that of the great masters?

Johann S Bach

George F Handel

Antonio Vivaldi

Composers

Minor Keys

Major Keys

During the Baroque period music notation became standarized and expanded. Composers like Bach created universal systems so that music could be written down and shared consistently.

Standarized Notation

What it is

Key Signatures

MusicNotation

aria – a long, beautiful, strong melody in which a solo character stops time and explores deep emotional states recitative– singing in a speech-like way with little music accompaniment to move the plot along quickly

An opera is an enormous production that integrates music, dance, sets, and costumes to enhance the telling of a story. They are sung in many languages, including Italian, German, French, and English. An opera has two basic components, the libretto and the musical score. The libretto tells the story as set to the music. The acting and singing are combined into different musical portions.

Handel's Alcina- Opera Complete

+ Alcina

Opera

Mozart's the magic flute is an opera from our next age, the classical age. Listen to the difference from Handel's Alcina. Characters: Tamino: A prince who is tasked to save a mysterious queen's daughter from the "evil" Sarastro. He is The Hero of the story, and the wielder of the titular magic flute. Papageno: A friendly bird catcher who works for the Queen of the Night. He is roped into aiding Tamino on his quest, and is granted a set of magical bells for his troubles. Pamina: The daughter of the Queen of the Night. The plot kicks off when she is taken by Sarastro, initiating Tamino and Papageno's quest to rescue her. Queen of the Night: A mysterious monarch who appears before Tamino, commanding him to save her helpless daughter from the evil Sarastro. Papagena: Papageno's love interest Sarastro: The high priest of Isis and Osiris, and leader of the Brotherhood.

Mozart's the Magic Flute

Conspiracies

Opera

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Key Words

Baroque : term used to describe the style of the period from 1600-1750, basso continuo : an accompaniment used in most Baroque music consisting of an independent bass line continuing throughout a piece on the basis of which harmonies are improvised on keyboard or other chord playing instruments. doctrine of the affections: the belief that a musical piece should stimulate just one emotion in the listener, and not switch from one emotion to another harpsichord : a Baroque keyboard instrument, the strings of which are plucked (rather than struck like a piano's) to give a characteristic "tinny" sound ornamentation : adding notes to written music through improvisation; Later when these improvisations were actually written into the music, the term would be used to describe any embellishment to a melody. program music : music composed to tell a story or to describe something in nature; recorder : a Baroque wind instrument made of wood that resembles a wooden flute terraced dynamics : a dynamic technique used in the Baroque era a sudden shift from loud to soft or soft to loud trill : type of ornamentation where the player quickly alternates between two notes that are either a whole step or a half step apart viola de gamba : a Baroque stringed instrument that had nearly the range of a cello

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Blooket Study Links:

Key Words

aria : a solo voice piece in an opera with a strong melody line cantata : a musical composition using a sacred text and employing arias, recitatives, and choruses chamber music : music written for a small group of instruments; originally intended to be played in the home, concerto : a musical composition that contrasts a soloist or small group of instruments with a larger orchestral group concerto form : the order of movements in a concerto; from the Baroque era, following the pattern fast-slow-fast concerto grosso : a musical composition for a group of solo instruments, fugue : piece in a polyphonic style movement : a self-contained part of a larger musical piece oratorio : musical composition for voices and instruments that tells a sacred story recitative : a style of singing that closely approximates speech solo concerto : musical composition for a single solo instrument and orchestra sonata : composition for at least one solo instrument, one of which is usually a keyboard; It usually has three to four movements suite : an instrumental piece of music consisting of a set of dances in a particular order, usually sharing the same key toccata : an improvisatory, virtuosic piece on a keyboard instrument

A Cantata is a musical composition using a sacred text and employing arias, recitatives, and choruses. Arias are a solo voice piece in an opera with a strong melody line. A recitatives is a style of singing that closely approximates speech; Recitative usually has little orchestral accompaniment. Choruses are choirs/ multiple voices.

Concerto form is the order of movements in a concerto; from the Baroque era, following the pattern fast-slow-fast A movement is a self-contained part of a larger musical piece. The audience is not supposed to applaud until the end of the last movement.

Concerto Forms

The Sarabande is a slow, stately Spanish dance in triple time.

music composed to tell a story or to describe something in nature; This type of music became very popular in the nineteenth century, replacing the absolute music that was favored in the Classical era (1750-1820). A famous later example of program music is the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869).

Program Music

Possibly, one of the most popular Baroque literature pieces is John Milton's Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost is about the Fall of Man and uses many images such as light and dark to starkly contrast Satan and Hell from God and Heaven.

Paradise Lost

John Milton

J.S. Bach Two Part Inventation

In terraced dynamics, the instruments change dynamics suddenly. Using terraced dynamics created instant contrast, which was stylistically important to Baroque composers. After all, a composer may choose joy as the emotion that he wants to convey, but there are many different kinds of joy. Through both the melody and the use of terraced dynamics, a composer could express these.

Terraced Dynamics

a dynamic technique used in the Baroque era a sudden shift from loud to soft or soft to loud

Doctrine of Affections

the belief that a musical piece should stimulate just one emotion in the listener, and not switch from one emotion to another Composers could choose any emotion to be the centerpiece of their composition—love, hate, jealousy, fear, joy, desire. But they were discouraged from starting off a piece with one emotion, such as a happy tone or feeling, and then switching to fear, sadness, or some other conflicting emotion

Key signatures are an arrangement of sharps or flats at the beginning of a music staff that specifies which notes are in the scale to be played. They tell musicians what notes should always be played sharp or flat during a piece.

A toccata is an improvisatory, virtuosic piece on a keyboard instrument it's usually paired with a fugue to create contrast

Chamber Music

There were three main types of chamber music that evolved during the Baroque period: the sonata, the toccata, and the fugue. The sonata is a composition for at least one solo instrument, one of which is usually a keyboard. It usually has three to four movements. The stylistically free toccata is an improvisatory, virtuosic piece on a keyboard instrument paired with a strict fugue to create contrast. The fugue was created during the Renaissance period, not the Baroque period, but continued to be popular during the Baroque. A fugue is a piece in which the theme is repeated over and over again, at specific pitch intervals from the starting pitch.

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Practice makes Permanent

Review Activity

Complete the activities to review the music elements introduced during the baroque period! Click on the play buttons to access!

• Maze Activity
• Word Scramble
• Try to make your own melody adding in some ornamentation

From Italy the courante, court dance for couples, prominent in the late 16th century. It reputedly originated as an Italian folk dance with running steps. As a court dance it was performed with small, back-and-forth, springing steps, later subdued to stately glides. Each couple held hands to move forward and backward or dropped hands to face each other or turn. T

The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the English jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite.

Viola de Gamba

a Baroque stringed instrument that had nearly the range of a cello. The viola da gamba uses the alto clef. Seven and occaisionally eight frets made of "stretched gut", tied on the fingerboard around the instrument's neck. Frets tied in this manner instead of permanently fixed as on a guitar allow fine-tuning to improve tuning. Frets enable the performer to stop the strings more cleanly, improve consistency of intonation and lend the stopped notes a tone that better matches the open strings.

Contributions

Johanne S Bach

1685-1750

- Expanded and Championed Religious Protestant music - Mastered the fugues - Established theory and was a source of inspiration to many future composers like Mozart and Beethoven - Started Cantatas and wrote the well tempered clavier

An oratorio is a musical composition for voices and instruments that tells a sacred story; Unlike an opera, it is usually unstaged. Each performer sings music for a different character in the story, but they do not appear in costume or act anything out as in opera.

A Fugue is a piece in a polyphonic style where each theme (specifically called a "subject") is stated successively and at specific pitch intervals with respect to the starting pitch. It was created during the Renaissance period, not the Baroque period, but continued to be popular during the Baroque.

From Germany the allemande is a moderately slow, serious dance in quadruple meter and binary form

George Handel

1685-1759

Woodwinds and Brass

One leading wind instrument was the recorder Though it was rediscovered by a number of composers in the twentieth century, it never regained the status it held during the Baroque period. From the wind family, only the oboe and bassoon survived the transition to the Classical period. Of the brass family, the trumpet was the most popular. The valve had yet to be incorporated into brass instruments of this day. So all possible notes had to be played by changing the air pressure through the lips rather than by pressing a key.

WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED THE QUIZ SCREENSHOT YOUR RESULTS TO SUBMIT AS AN ASSIGNMENT

This link will show you how the orchestral instruments are mapped out in the orchestra.

Explore the Layout

Each link will demonstrate the sounds of all the orchestral instruments in that section. Strings Brass Woodwinds Percussion

Explore the instruments

Quiz

This link will demonstrate how the instruments of the orchestra work together.

Explore the purpose

Instruments of the Orchestra

Use these links to the right to familiarize yourself with the different instruments in our orchestral family. After you have explored the links click below to use these games to test your knowledge of baroque instruments!

Conspiracies from the Magic Flute

Solo Concerto: musical composition for a single solo instrument and orchestra

Characters from Alcina

Major Key signatures follow the pattern of: Whole step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step E major is the top scale, A major is the bottom scale

Harpsichord

a Baroque keyboard instrument, the strings of which are plucked (rather than struck like a piano's) to give a characteristic "tinny" sound While the piano strings are struck by little hammers, the harpsichord strings are plucked by quills. Also, the harpsichord was only capable of playing at one volume level, while the pianoforte, or "soft-loud," could play at many different volume levels.

Historical Events

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- Counter Reformation - The Council of Trent helped bring power back to the Catholic church. Explore this site for research, videos, and activities! - Explore the ornate Cathedrals that were developed in this time. -Colonization - Explore Indigenous Tribes that were displaced during this time -Scientifc Exploration -The early enlightenment period brought lifechanging discoveries in science, medicine and politics. -Absolute Monarchies - As Monarchies were established, monarchs began to compete for who had the best castle. Explore this Baroque palace!

The top scale is Bminor, and the bottom scale is Aminor

A minor scale follows the pattern: Whole step, half step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step

Baroque emphasizes dramatic, exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted, detail.

Famous Artists

Click on links to enjoy their art!

• Diego Velázquez
• Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
• Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
• Peter Paul Rubens

Antonio Vivaldi

1678-1741

Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi was a priest at an orphanage for young girls. There he was responsible for both the religious and musical education of the orphans. Primarily interested in music, Vivaldi neglected many of his religious duties and set to making his orchestra of teenage girls as accomplished as any professional one. One of Vivaldi's most famous compositions is the program music- Four Seasons

Concerto Grosso: a musical composition for a group of solo instruments, called the concertino, and orchestra, called the ripieno

A sonata is a composition for at least one solo instrument, one of which is usually a keyboard; It usually has three to four movements and, unlike the concerto, does not include orchestral accompaniment.

- Ornamentation: adding notes to written music through improvisation; Later when these improvisations were actually written into the music, the term would be used to describe any embellishment to a melody.- Trill: type of ornamentation where the player quickly alternates between two notes that are either a whole step or a half step apart - basso continuo: an accompaniment used in most Baroque music consisting of an independent bass line continuing throughout a piece on the basis of which harmonies are improvised on keyboard or other chord playing instruments;

Notation Usage